Cut to the Chase
by Sugar Spook
Summary: Cerise Hood and Darling Charming form an unlikely friendship, but as their bond grows they discover that some of life's greatest adventures are found when you stray off the path.


AN: In case any of you didn't know, it's Cerise Appreciation Month! Since I'm struggling through writers block on my other fics, I think it would be fitting if I focused my energy into something Cerise-related that I've wanted to do for a while. It'll be short, and I'm planning to finish it before November ends. Enjoy!

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><p>It was a bright day at Ever After High. The air was still and fresh, filling up the vast sapphire sky like a helium stretched balloon. It was the kind of day that wasn't warm, but the sun was so strong that a single beam of light would make one squint and wish they had brought a backup pair of crownglasses. Even though going outside was cumbersome, the sunshine still looked beautiful within the comfort of the large boarding school. Cerise Hood, daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, was sitting in a sunbeam, protected from the harsh light of day by the hood of her magical cloak. The warmth from the rays made her feel melty, like a toasted marsh-king mallow. Songbirds flitted in and out of windows, answering the calls of princesses, singing duets with princes, and generally being helpful by clearing up the Castleteria trays in return for a few stray fries. Every time Cerise found her eyes drifting closed in her puddle of light, she'd be jolted back to her senses by a gust of wind as a bird dived over her head.<p>

Then, the crisp, lazy day filled with birdsong and chatter was abruptly pierced by the blistering heat of dragon's fire. The earthy undertones of flame and brimstone spread through the air and into the hooded girl's sensitive nose. Shrieks of panic, or possibly delight, erupted from outside, cutting through the pleasant melody of the Castleteria and clearing the sunny fog from Cerise's mind. The ground began to shake and vibrate underneath her feet. The erratic tremors made her picnic basket rattle on the table, bouncing the juicy leg of lamb tucked away inside. Something enormous was jostling her lunch. Something that could possibly hurt innocent bystanders.

Cerise sprung up from her seat without hesitation, hurtling herself over the lunch table with her basket in hand. She followed the vibrations through the door and out into the light of day. The sunlight pierced her eyes like daggers, and she winced, withdrawing back into her cloak to shield her eyes from the sun with one hand. Bursts of fire contrasted against the blue of the sky in the distance. They were coming from the direction of the training grounds, an isolated area behind the grimmnastics track where knights and squires dueled against a variety of fearsome monsters, and villains trained their future minions. The path from the main building to the training grounds stretched all the way across campus, and would take someone at least half a period to walk there. But Cerise had a little boost from her enchanted hand-me-downs, and years of racing wolves through the forest at her advantage. She was more than capable of booking it down to the training grounds, with enough time leftover to polish off her lunch.

She looked over both shoulders, checking for anyone who might be nosing around. When she was sure the coast was clear, Cerise darted down the path, her footsteps sure and swift. If anyone was passing by, all they would see was a streak of scarlet in the corner of their eye.

She reached the training grounds with the pleasant sting of wind on her cheeks just to hear to hearty, guttural cheers signal a victory. A wall of people obscured the main event, but by the plumes of smoke coming from the ground Cerise could easily tell that a dragon had been bested in battle. Whatever had happened had been over in less than ten minutes. Even though it meant coming all the way down the path was a waste of time, Cerise was still curious and skirted around the edges of the crowd to get a closer look at the aftermath. She wondered if Coach Gingerbreadman had shipped in the rumored wyverns from the south. Or possibly a local two-headed, barbarous knucker. As she neared the bystanders, she noticed that they weren't just cheering, they were chanting.

"_Charming! Charming! Charming!_" the small crowd repeated, pumping their fists and whistling. Cerise grinned. Daring must be showing off again. She'd grown fond of Daring and his theatrics ever since the Thronecoming bookball game. Once he had begun to see her as more than a distressed damsel, she let down her hackles around him. Cerise began to duck her way through the crowd to get a better look at him, and the dragon. Several loose dragon fangs were scattered upon the scorched and blackened ground, as long as Cerise's forearm. She maneuvered around them, and found herself at the front of the audience. To her surprise, Daring, and his brother Dexter were only a foot away from her. Their eyes were as wide as the grins on their faces as they applauded for the figure covered in armor, whose face was masked by the slotted visor of their helmet. The knight's legs were steadily anchored on either side of the dragon's spiny neck and their sword was poised over the dragon's head. The blade gleamed in the blinding sun, as tenacious and firm as it's owner. They were magnificent.

The beast let out a rumbling groan, and a jet of smoke from it's ridged nostrils, a clear sign of it's surrender. The knight sheathed their sword and swung a leg over the dragons neck to kneel by it's head, affectionately rubbing it's horns with vigor. The dragon leaned into their hand, grumbling happily. Cerise felt her heart swell, and broke into an involuntary grin. It was so easy to write off anything big and bad as a monster, and she was sure that many members of the crowd wouldn't have objected if the dragon had been decapitated right in front of her eyes. To see the scaled behemoth receiving affection warmed her heart.

She scooted closer to Daring and nudged his side. He looked a bit annoyed before he noticed who was bumping him "Hmm? Ah- Cerise!" He shouted over the din of the crowd. "You just missed it!"

"Missed what?" Cerise piped up, her gravelly voice barely audible.

"You missed Darling duel with a dragon!"

"_What?" _She yelled.

"Darling. Took down. A dragon!" He replied, his voice projecting clearly above the others. The crowd heard him, and mistook as Daring leading them in another hurrah. They cheered again, and Darling stood back up to the disappointment of her new friend. She raised both hands, signaling for her audience to quiet down.

"It's okay, they've been calmed!" She announced, and a few people let out some whoops. "I need to find them a new kennel- will one of you assist me?" She gestured to a gigantic metal crate the size of a double-decker bus, with a dragon-sized hole burned into the side.

A few people shouted out to volunteer, and Cerise took advantage of the quiet and leaned in towards the Charming brothers. "What in the kingdom happened?"

Dexter gestured towards the giant hole in the cage. "Something must have spooked the new training dragons and one of them melted a hole through their cage. I still can't believe why they thought steel bars would ever cage a Malicious Ridgeback. You should've been here, Cerise, I thought that the whole arena was going to go up in flames! ...Not that I wanted it to, but it was still pretty wicked."

"I was completely ready to battle." Daring boasted, one hand perched upon the hilt of his sword while the other was posed gallantly on his hip.

"It was a good thing I just happened to be here to spare you the embarrassment." Came a muffled voice from behind them. Darling sauntered over to them, and Cerise barely had to imagine the smug grin that must be plastered from ear to ear. Across the training grounds, a group of students were busy backing the escaped dragon into a new cage.

Daring laughed good-naturedly, but his eyes narrowed in competition. "Come now, sister. We both know I'm the one with the most expertise in the family. I _let_ you have this one. You clearly need the practice."

"You're absolutely right, Daring! I'm still a novice. A novice who, if we were counting, just beat your record for soothing a savage beast. Even though you've been handling a sword since you've had little shiny armored diapers, I'd say you need a little more practice too." Her dig only made Daring scoff.

And then, without warning, Darling removed her helmet. Cerise had seen Darling before; they'd even shared the same lunch table once. Granted, Cerise had sat there rigidly, at very farthest corner trying to vanish into thin air while the Royals bubbled about their fairytale dreams, but she counted it. But she had never seen Darling's legendary hair-flip, until now. And it lived up to every rumor.

Silky locks of hair poured from her helmet, floating like featherdown to frame Darling's round cheeks. Each pastel golden strand gracefully hung upon the sunbeams, creating a halo around her, and looked as though they were caught invisible spiderwebs. With time crawling by, Cerise noticed the faint white scars that were partially hidden under Darling's blonde eyebrows, and how her face was blackened in strips from the smoke that had slipped through the slots on her helmet. She had bitten her lip on one side, and it puffed out like a large, ripe cherry. Darling's marks of battle looked absolutely radiant. Rather, Darling seemed to look even prettier with them, but that might have been a side effect of the hair. The glimmering gossamer threads seemed as if they were alive, dancing a waltz with gravity until they settled with a swish to waterfall down Darling's back.

A coy smile tugged on Darling's bitten lip, but her eyes were bold and direct, and met Cerise's awe-struck gaze straight on. Cerise had to double check over her shoulder to make sure that it was actually her Darling was staring at, and not Dexter or an extremely interesting bird.

"I don't think we've properly met yet," Darling said, sticking out an armored hand. "I'm Darling, the Charming daughter no one ever talks about."

"Cerise, the carnivore no one really talks to" Cerise said, shaking the extended hand, chuckling half-heartedly at the self-deprecation. After a moment's pause, Cerise noticed Darling's concerned look and quickly began to stumble over her tongue in order to salvage any positive impression the charming girl might have had of her. "Uh, used to. People talk to me now. I have… friends. I don't know why I paused like that, I have plenty of friends! Like your brothers, we're friends. Buddies. Amigos… Oh Grimm, someone stop me."

"Well that's, um, good." Darling's expression was unreadable, but Cerise was almost completely sure it was either a look of pity or confusion. Probably both. Cerise felt her olive cheeks burn with embarrassment, and she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. Fortunately she was saved by the loud gonging of Ever After High's bell, signalling that lunch was over and it was time for the fairytale students to start heading to their classes. Cerise caught up with Daring and considered flopping against his broad shoulders with a groan of utter exhaustion but thought better of it. Darling was his sister, not to mention only two steps behind them.

Cerise turned to Daring, the corners of her mouth pulled down in an exaggerated grimace, and shout-whispered through her clenched teeth "That was _awful_."

Daring nodded solemnly "You're absolutely right. I think she may have actually beaten my record…"

Cerise dared to peek backwards at Darling. She was wiping the endearing streaks of grime from her face with an embroidered handkerchief, revealing a beauty mark on her right cheek. She and Dexter were leaning in toward each other speaking with low and intent voices. Cerise couldn't make out what they were saying, but she lingered long enough for Darling to catch her eye again and give her an apologetic smile.

A hot, unexpected flash of mortification struck Cerise, and she tugged her hood an inch further over her furrowed brow. In the shadows of her cloak, no one could see her face turning as red as her namesake.


End file.
